


A Walk In The Park

by MsPeppernose



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Peterick, super fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2374034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsPeppernose/pseuds/MsPeppernose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt "your dog likes my dog you should date me or something idk i mean it’s only appropriate AU"</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Walk In The Park

"Hemingway! Hemingway! Hem...! Jesus." Pete shook his head. Silly dog. He could see his dog getting further and further away. He knew he wouldn't go far, he never did, but Pete liked to keep an eye on him. 

The park was relatively quiet for a weekend morning. There was a few joggers, a mom out with over energetic kids who were burning off excess energy and a couple of fellow dog owners with their canine friends. Or Pete always thought it was more like canines out with their human friends really, because most of the time the dogs made the rules.

Pete liked to let Hemingway off his leash, at least for a little while on their walks, so that he could get a good run and have a little taste of freedom. Hemmy never really minded the leash like he knew some dogs did, but it was still nice to let him run and play on his own. Sometimes Hemmy just took off, usually coming back to Pete with some random piece of trash like an abandoned ball, or a broken piece of twig, or an empty soda can as a new toy to be played with. Pete was sort of proud of the unique playthings foraged by Hemmy, and Hemmy seamed pleased with himself too. He usually presented them with a snuffle and a nudge at Pete's ankle, as if to say "Look at what I brought you. Now throw it, human." 

"Hemingway!" Pete called him again. He was a little farther off than Pete would like so Pete took off in a light jog after him. The asphalt crunched under his feet which turned into soft grass as he went off the pathway 

Pete caught up and gave Hemmy a little pat on the side of the head. The dog had a dirty something in his jaw which he settled down in front of Pete's high-top sneakers. "Don't run off so far. Ok, buddy? What did you find?" Pete looked down at the ground to see a squashed plastic soda bottle at his feet. Hemmy looked proud and panted up at Pete with a slobbery tongue and a wide bulldog smile. "Great Job. But maybe we don't take this one home." Hemingway snuffled a response which could have been either a yes or a no, and stood waiting for Pete to throw it. Pete sighed. "Maybe one day you'll like less gross things." He picked it up by the neck of the bottle and flung it into the distance. Hemmy took off after it but seemed to get distracted after he reached it. He picked it up in his mouth, but instead of heading back to Pete for it to be thrown again, he padded off back in the direction of the pathway.

It seemed he had spotted something more interesting than Pete. That thing was another dog and Hemingway was heading in it's direction.

Meeting another dog was usually a situation that could go one of two ways: the dogs hated each other and growled and barked at each other until their owners dragged them off, or they fucking loved each other and wanted to spend all day licking each other's buttholes until their owners dragged them away. Pete was never sure which was worse.

"Hemmy!" Pete called after him. He should probably go back on his leash in case it was a snappy, yappy dog that had grievances to all other dogs in the world. Pete ran after his dog and slipped his fingers under Hemingway's collar to catch him. He wedged him between his calf muscles to keep him still while he fished the leash out of his jacket pocket. He was still clipping the leash on and preparing to release him from his hold when the dog that Hemmy had spotted was mere feet away.

It was a fluffy little tan coloured thing, small with big dark eyes. It was maybe a Pomeranian or something similar but there was too many new breeds and cross breeds of dogs to keep up now. The little dog was pulling hard on it's leash to get to Hemingway and Pete could hear it's owner cursing under his breath. 

"Come on! Leave that dog alone." The fluffy dog came right up to Hemingway and enthusiastically sniffed it's little nose against him. Pete was still bent over from securing the leash and he looked up. Before him was a guy about his age and of similar height. He was dressed casually in jeans, a hoody and a trucker cap. And he was cute as hell.

The little dog continued to get acquainted with Hemingway. They sniffed and snuffled each other and Pete tried to look too awkward. He also silently prayed, to whatever god might listen, that Hemingway wouldn't do something like try to hump the the other dog. That was always a nightmare.

"It's cool. Don't worry about it. I think your dog likes my dog." Pete smiled. He looked down and Hemingway was very busy sniffing back. He pushed his flat bulldog nose against the little wooly dog and licked around it's snout. "Hey little guy. Or girl?" There was never really any way to tell the gender of a dog without being very impolite and checking, unless it was obnoxiously dressed in blue or pink. And even then who says a boy dog can't strut it's stuff a in garish pink collar covered in sparkly diamonds?

"She's a girl. Penny." Said the guy. Pete bent down again and was about to pet it but hesitated.

"Is it ok if I pet her?" Some dog owners were less than happy if strangers petted their dogs in case they somehow undid all their training or something. Some dogs didn't like to be petted and would happily bite the hand off an unsuspecting person for trying. Pete knew this from experience.

"Sure, she's friendly. Go ahead." 

"Hey, Penny." Pete let Penny sniff his hand and then gave her a good scratch behind the ear. She loved it, closing her eyes and leaning against his hand. "She's awesome." Pete looked back up at the dogs owner. Cute dog, cute human. Hemingway seemed a little bit put out by Pete lavishing attention on Penny and snuffled at his feet. It was either " you should be petting me" or "leave that dog alone, I was busy sniffing her." Pete couldn't be sure. Hemmy turned his attention from Pete back his new dog friend but now his nose was heading for her rear end. Pete tugged on the leash a bit just to pull him away an inch.

"Hey! Hemmy! She's a lady. None of that, please. Be nice." Pete warned, and he saw Penny's owner hide a smirk.

"Better be off. Come on, Penny." The guy gave the leash a little pull and Penny moved off with a little whimper.

"See you. Nice to meet you both." Pete lead Hemingway away in the opposite direction. He looked back over his shoulder at the guy and the little dog and caught the other guy looking back at him. Pete grinned and made a mental note to keep an eye out for him on future dog-walking adventures.

*****

Pete did keep an eye out for him on further dog walks. And he saw him too. A few days after their first meeting he ran into them again. Hemingway was still on his leash this time so there was no need to chase after him or pin him down. There was only a brief nod hello and a small wave. Penny's owner was on his cell phone so the dogs did a quick sniff and they all went their separate ways.

Pete noticed Penny's owners' Joy Division shirt and it may or may not have been a happy accident that Pete was wearing his own Joy Division shirt the next time he bought Hemingway for a walk. He told himself he wasn't trying to impress a fluffy little dog's owner but really, he knew the truth and he didn't really care. 

The following day, Pete saw Hemingway's dog friend in the distance. Today Penny was off her leash and jumping and yelping waiting for her human to throw something for her. She ran wildly after it and Pete smiled at her enthusiasm. It was pretty close to Hemmy's level of excitement. Penny looked like a fluffy tumbleweed running back and forth.

"Wana go say hi, buddy?" Hemmy answered with a harrumph and Pete took that as a yes. Pete assumed it was a yes because really he wanted to go say hi himself. "No stealing her ball though, ok?"

It wasn't a ball, it was a gross dirty stick and Pete grinned when he saw it. At least it wasn't just Hemingway that took ownership of disgusting found objects then. Hemingway still tried to steal it.

"Sorry." Pete said as he tried to wrestle the stick from Hemmy's mouth. "He thinks all sticks are his."  
He spoke to Hemingway, his tone a warning. "I told you to be nice." Hemingway sat back on his hind legs and looked at Pete like he'd ruined all the fun. But he then commenced having a good sniff of Penny, so perhaps not all bad.  
Turning back to penny's owner, he said "I swear he just does the exact opposite of what I say. Just because I said it."

Penny's owner laughed. "Same. Don't worry at all. In one fluffy ear and out the other."

"Man's best friend my ass." Pete muttered. "I'm going to trade you in for a cat, dog."

Penny's owner giggled and Pete's heart fluttered. He decided to take a chance. "I'm Pete, by the way. You've met Hemingway, who's sometimes a jerk."

"Patrick." Penny's owner said. "Not a jerk," he added with a small smile, in case Pete was under any impression that he might be. Pete wasn't. Patrick was an angel.

Pete laughed. "Glad to hear it." 

Hemingway's attention was waning and he seemed to be interested in something a little further away. He tugged on the leash and Pete had no choice but to go with him. "Bye, Patrick." He grinned and waved back over his shoulder while being dragged off to investigate the single park bench in the vicinity that Hemingway had yet to pee on.

*****

The next time Pete saw Patrick there was bad weather. It was a crappy day out to begin with. There was fuck all sun in the sky, too many clouds, and a chill that was no fun at all. Pete had layered on an extra hoody and pulled it up around his neck and set off to the park as usual. When he saw Patrick, he could have sworn that the sun came out a little bit, but maybe he imagined it.

Hemingway eagerly snuffled at Penny and gave her a big lick on the snout. Pete laughed light at that. "I think Hemmy's putting the moves on your dog, dude. Though he's fixed, so maybe not."  
"Penny's fixed too, not that it matters. I didn't want to end up with boy dogs serenading her on my door step, or wind up with a hundred little fluffy puppies."  
"A hundred puppies would be cool." Pete beamed at that thought. "Poor dogs getting fixed, though."  
"Yeah. It sounds so mean."  
"But it's still better than Hemmy humping my leg every hour of the day that he wasn't sleeping. It's for the best. Same with cats. My friend has a girl cat. Before she got fixed, when she was in heat, she was a poor horny little thing. It was like watching her be tortured...."Pete stopped himself short when he realised how creepy it was to explain to Patrick about horny cats. He shouldn't explain to Patrick about horny cats. He was sounding like the resident park weirdo now. "Sorry, that's weird isn't it?"  
"Nah. Yeah, I get ya." Patrick flinched and held his hand out, palm facing the sky. "Oh shit. Is that rain? Fuck! Run!" At that moment the heavens opened and huge, heavy rain drops fell on them. Pete pulled his hood up with one hand and pulled Hemingway's leash with the other. He dashed after Patrick who was heading under a nearby tree with Penny. 

The tree provided ample shelter for both humans and dogs. Pete stood with his hoody tucked up close to his chin and his back to the tree truck. Pete had the leash in his hand, and Hemmy was beside him looking out into the rain. He wasn't going anywhere. Patrick was a few feet away from him with Penny at his feet. Pete had sort of run out of conversation after they ran for shelter, and after his earlier horny-cat conversation. 

But he also felt really pleased to be standing under a tree in the rain with the guy he'd been crushing on. The setting was like a fairy tale he decided, or like something out of an old movie. Pete thought if it was an was an old movie, the hero would sweep the dame off her feet, and they would kiss in the rain. He didn't really think that would be a great idea today though. Besides not being able to figure out who would be swept off their feet and who would do the sweeping, they would probably catch deathly colds if they got soaked from standing in the rain, kissing.

Pete glanced at Patrick and Patrick was staring at him. Probably should stop thinking about kissing in the rain, Wentz.

"It's pretty heavy." Yep, talk about the weather. That's at least better than amorous cats. "It doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon. We might have to live here forever." Pete grinned and Hemmy made a snuffling sound on the ground beside him. 

"If it eases off even a bit, maybe we should take shelter for a coffee or something. There's a little cafe near by. It's pretty decent coffee, and it's dog friendly." Patrick faced his body out towards the park but his head and shoulders turned towards Pete. He looked awkward while he spoke and he had a pink blush in his cheeks. Pete thought his heart might burst through his chest. Had Patrick just asked him out?

"Hemmy, you don't want to live here forever, do you?" Hemmy harrumphed again. Pete leaned forward a little so that he could see Penny better. "You wana live here, Penny?" Penny yapped a little bark and he and Patrick both laughed. 

"I think that's unanimous then. We gotta get a coffee." 

****

Pete was sitting on the couch in his house, with his legs pulled under him facing Patrick. Patrick's body mirrored Pete's and both dogs lay on the floor beside the couch. 

They had made it as far as the coffee shop when the rain eased off a bit. They sat at a small table clutching cups of coffee and the rain started up again, heavy and hard, meaning they were stuck there. Pete was thrilled. Patrick didn't seem to mind either and there was an abundance of coy smiles between them. Pete tried to tone down his grinning-like-a-maniac look when Patrick did something adorable like get cappuccino froth on his lip or fiddle with his glasses.

Pete's place was pretty close so when the rain looked like it was easing off again, he had suggested that they change their shelter location to his house. Patrick had accepted the invitation to Pete's apartment to dry off and wait for the rest of the rain showers to be finished.

Pete hadn't really expected him to come back with him. It had been a long shot, and really he hadn't wanted Patrick to get sick from walking around in wet clothes. But he was afraid he was coming off too strong or looking like a creep. Pete couldn't keep the smile off his face when Patrick said yes. Hemingway seemed pretty pleased to have guests too. 

The rain showers got heavier and didn't look like they were going to let up anytime soon, so Pete had fixed them cookies and hot cocoa and set out an extra little bowl of dog food for Penny (which Hemingway inspected and ate half of).

"You thought I was a serial killer?" Pete threw his head back an laughed loud.  
"Not really." Patrick blushed a little and Pete thought that was the best shade of pink he had ever goddamn seen. "I mean, I didn't think you actually were a serial killer. But I thought you could be? You have to be careful. I hear these things on the news sometimes. "Man Found Dead In Local Park After Walking Dog". I didn't want to be found dead after walking my dog!! Penny's too small, she can't protect me. She'd cuddle them to death."  
"Hemingway would just snort at an attacker, and then make them throw a ball or something. I'm doomed."  
"You don't seem like a serial killer though." Patrick conceded and smiled at him. Pete could have melted.  
"Thanks. But seriously, look at me!" Pete was still really amused by this. "What would my serial killer weapon be? Eyeliner? I will eyeliner you to death, Patrick!" He giggled and poked Patrick's arm.  
"You could be the Chicago Hoody Strangler! Each victim is strangled with a different one of your coloured hoodies!" Patrick touched his finger to Pete's hoody sleeve. "It didn't cross your mind that I was a big crazy murderer when you invited me to your house?"

Pete thought about it and leaned a little closer. "No, I didn't think you were a nutjob. I just thought you were damn cute. Too cute to be a murderer."  
Patrick looked captivated and blushed harder. "Maybe that's how I lure my victims in. You don't know!"  
"Is it?" Pete inched even closer.  
"Nah. I can't even kill a spider."

Pete put his hand to Patrick's face. He caught his finger under his chin and lifted his face a little before pressed his lips to Patrick's. This seemed to surprise Patrick and Pete felt him freeze on the spot. Pete waited a second, and when he felt Patrick's mouth move and kiss him back he relaxed into it. It was a sweet, soft kiss and little more than a brush of lips, but it made Pete's entire body hum, and gooey warmth spread from his lips to the ends of his toes. Pete found Patrick's hand and curled his fingers around it, and felt Patrick squeeze back.

When Pete pulled back from the kiss, he smiled and bit his lip. Fuck, he could totally be the resident park weirdo; accosting hot men under trees and luring them back home to kiss them on his couch. Though this wasn't just any strange man. This was Patrick. Patrick, who made the bottom fall out of Pete's stomach with a single smile. Patrick, who made Pete feel like he had hearts in his eyes with each little joke he made. Patrick, who had made Pete's entire body sing with contentment by just holding his hand.

"Ok. Good." Pete said as he leaned back to look at Patrick again. 

Patrick's eyes twinkled and he grinned back. "I'm glad it rained today, you know. And I'm really pleased you invited me back. It was good luck or something." 

Pete beamed. "Dude, your dog likes my dog. I'm pretty sure it was meant to be."

END


End file.
